ZBrushCentral

New Plugin - Embed Material in Texture Map or Object

Shared ZScripts & Macros
#1

embed-mat-splash.jpg

Presenting a list of rules to explain the sometimes-mysterious process for embedding a material in ZBrush. New ZBrush users might want to read the .doc file (Basic Rules for Embedding Materials in ZBrush.doc) contained in the .zip file for a more detailed explanation.

  1. A new object without a texture map is by default embedded with material index number 00. If a material with a different index number is selected, ZBrush will display that material wherever index number 00 is embedded.

  2. To permanently change parts (or all) of the object to a new material requires embedding another material (between index 01 and 75), which can be painted on, or applied globally by selecting the Draw>M button then pressing the Color>FillObject Button.

  3. A new texture map is by default embedded with material index number 00 for all pixels. NOTE that a texture map’s embedded materials will always override materials which have been embedded directly in any object to which the texture map is applied.

  4. To permanently change part or all of the texture map’s materials requires embedding other materials (between index 01 and 75), which can be painted on, directly at polygon resolution in edit mode, or at pixel resolution while in Projection Master.

  5. The Embed-Mat plugin button will automate global embedding of materials into texture maps and non-texture mapped models.

The attached Embed-Mat.zip file contains three files:

:large_orange_diamond: Embed-mat.zsc
:large_orange_diamond: Embed-mat.txt (source script)
:large_orange_diamond: Basic Rules for Embedding Materials in ZBrush.doc

To Install:
Unzip the Embed-mat.zsc file and drop it into the ZStartup/Zplugs subdirectory and the next time you start ZBrush, a new subgroup and button will be available in the Texture palette.

To Use:
Choose a texture map, a material and a tool (object) in edit mode. Click the Embed-Mat button and the selected material will be embedded in the selected texture map. If no texture map is selected, the material will be embedded in the tool.

Caution: Clicking the Embed-Mat button will automatically OVERWRITE any existing materials already embedded in the Texture Map and/or active tool (object). This is why the plugin requires confirmation before it proceeds.

#2

Thankyou for this! Very clear documentation, which I hope gets to be put on the Pixologic education page, here:-

http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/education/documentation/guides.php

Cheers,

R

#3

Great work Sven. :+1: Very useful plugin and helpful documentation - I’m a not-so-new user who learnt something. :wink:

#4

great!
quite useful plugin :stuck_out_tongue:

#5

Thanks sven :+1: this looks very useful - gonna give this a whirl later on :wink:

Chris

#6

Sweet! Sven yøu the man once again.

#7

Been trying to do this for some time! thank you! :+1:

#8

i have Texture>cropAndFill but no Texture>FillObject
i have color>FillObject but the texture must be turned off.

#9

Pixol-dust,

Pixol-dust said: i have color>FillObject but the texture must be turned off.

You’re right, it should be Color>FillObject… sorry. (I fixed it in the post and .doc file.)

And yes, the texture must be off to use the Color>FillObject Button since you would not see the effect (either of the color change or the material change in the object) because the applied texture’s color and material would override the change to the object.

Sven

#10

Sven I have understood this concept a bit but I am not able to understand whats the use of it.

See most of us use texture, this plugin wont help in that as masking wont be of any use.

Point is why should we want to bother about changing the material index embedded on the model( untill we paint directly on the model) ?

Normally when we select any material, zbrush shows us the selected material irrespective of matertial 00 still imbedded in it.

When we export the texture we still have the material which we ahve assigned to it rather 00 one.

Currently i cannot think of much use of this plugin, maybe with Z 2.5, when most of us will be painting on the model itself, then it might help.

Do let me know, if I am thinking in the wrong direction.

Sunny

#11

Thinking again

Do you mean to say it will help in capturing the base material of the model ?

Say I use mostly toon shaded material for my comic charcters., if i embedd the toon shaded material directly on the texture, before painting other details on it, the texture will store the toonshaded material.

That means I will not have to load the toon material again next time when I load the character?

If so, I think this is a very appropriate use of your plugin. :wink:

let me know.

#12

Hi Sunny,

No, Embed-Mat WON’T let you permanently embed any “customized” material in your texture map. What it does is embed the index material of your choice to the entire texture map BEFORE you begin painting other index materials onto sub-sections of your texture map.

Why do you need to do this? Because if you leave areas of your texture map embedded with material index 00, those areas will still display as whatever material index number you’ve currently selected.

To understand this, run the Projection Master Tutorial - Part 3 called Shading and Material Effects. Note that during the tutorial, a wood grain is applied to the cylinder, then some metal bands are applied and a window filled with some spheres. Finally, a kind of speaker texture is laid on each end. Finally, the tutorial uses projection master to embed the little window with Gel Shader A and the speaker area with Bumpy Metal.

After the tutorial is finished, everything seems ok with the cylinder’s texture… but it’s not. The woodgrain area of the texture map is still embedded with the default material, Flat Color (00). It LOOKS ok, because the currently selected material is Basic Material (01).

To see what I mean, exit the Projection Master Tutorial. Now select another material, for instance Reflected Map (05). Notice that the wood grain areas take on the chrome material appearance? Now select another material, for instance Pattern0Metal (24) Notice the wood grain areas take on a kind of bumpy metal appearance?

So What? Well, the simple purpose of the EmbedMat Button is to initialize the entire texture map with some other material… REPLACING THE DEFAULT MATERIAL (00). If the Projection Master Tutorial had used the EmbedMat Button first, the wood grain areas would have maintained whatever material had been assigned.

To see what I mean about the default material see the attached image.

Sven

Attachments

show embedded mats.jpg

#13

Got it seven. :slight_smile:

But can a plugin be made for solving the live material slot problem on canvas for illustrations ?

I can understand as Aurick says the live material is very important, but sometimes it just screws all my illustration any remedy for that ?

#14

Sunny,

Take a look at: Matslots plugin.

The whole issue of ‘live materials’ is problematic for some people but once you’ve got to grips with the principle of material ‘slots’ it ceases to be an issue. This plugin helps clarify the subject.

#15

Sunny,

Marcus is right, the Matslots plugin is very handy for keeping track of materials you’ve used in a scene. When you want to add a new custom material, be sure to first choose a different, unused material slot, THEN load the new custom material. That way, you leave those materials already in the scene as they were.

BAKING THE LAYER
Another thing you should experiment with is the Layer>Bake Button which lets you capture the rendered appearance of color and, materials, shading AND shadows at the time you press the Bake Button.

As the pop-up for the Bake Button states: "… converts all rendered material and shading effects on this layer to flat-color pixol images.

… effectively ZBrush takes a ‘snapshot’ of the layer and repaints it entirely using the flat color material."

While this will capture the rendered look of the original materials and shadows, be aware that you trade-off the possibility of adding more light/shade effects for the baked parts of the scene in future renders because they are now assigned the flat-color material (i.e. no shadows allowed).

Sven

#16

Thanks Marcus, Sven

I have matslot plugin installed but I dont use it, because first it is not easy to remember each custom material name( not default ones) and I use mostly material pack 2, hence the problem is I have to load each material
in any case, I just keep in mind I dont replace the current material which is being used on the canvas.

It will be much better if Marcus include a thumbnail of the material as well in the next update. Ya it will make it look like material pack 2 but visually it will be easier to use.

Bake BTN - Sven without it I dont think I can even dream of completing my comic issues on time. Probably I use it more then any body else using zbrush, my every object is placed in a different layer and every layer is baked before creating a new layer.

The only error I face is I forget to use best render button sometimes (Before baking) leading to graphics without shadows, still learning to cope with it. :wink:

#17

Thanks Sven…another great idea!

how’s the new machine?

#18

definetely this plugin rocks,easy way texturing with materials.
thanks a lot.

#19

Hi Nuts,

Have not seen your name for a while.

For the longest time I couldn’t get the rules straight as to how ZBrush assigned materials (especially the wildcard nature of mat 00, and the fact that the model and the texture could be assigned different materials.) To straighten that all out in my head I wrote the Embed-Mat script. I think there’s still more that a script could manage where materials are concerned (wink) but I’m saving it until after the 2.5 stork comes.

The new system isn’t anything great, just more memory and more speed - good for ZBrushing and good for Mirage projects, too.

be well, Sven

#20

Thank you so much. I finally fully understand. Most appreciated.

:+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: